Michel
Pereira is no longer on the
Ultimate Fighting Championship roster after his decision loss
to Sharabutdin
Magomedov at
UFC Baku.

“Demolidor” leaves the promotion after building a 10-6 record
inside the Octagon across two weight classes. However, he has lost
four of his last five fights, ending his UFC run on a lackluster
note.

UFC parts ways with Michel Pereira after six-year Octagon
run

Pereira has exited the UFC after six years in the promotion. He
made his UFC debut against Danny
Roberts in 2019 and has since won 10 fights inside the Octagon.
The 32-year-old completed his previous contract with a
split-decision victory over Zachary
Reese in February following a losing streak. He then signed a
one-fight deal to face Magomedov in Azerbaijan.

His last appearance ended in a unanimous decision defeat. Pereira
later criticized referee Herb Dean for
not deducting points from Magomedov despite issuing multiple
warnings for hair pulling. Magomedov also avoided a point deduction
for a seemingly blatant eye poke.

Pereira enjoyed his best run in the UFC during an eight-fight
winning streak between 2020 and 2024, but this momentum was lost
after consecutive defeats to Anthony
Hernandez, Abus
Magomedov and Kyle
Daukaus.

While several fighters have had multiple stints in the UFC, with
some even going on to win gold after returning to the promotion,
Pereira's inconsistency and age may prove to be a stumbling block
to him getting re-signed.

⌠Fighter removed: Michel
Pereira

— UFC Roster Watch (@UFCRosterWatch)
July 14, 2026

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla believes there are
correlations between mixed martial arts and basketball.

Mazzulla, who's attended several
Ultimate Fighting Championship events, was recently seen
training MMA with esteemed coach Eric Nicksick at
Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. He has revealed that he looks up
MMA gyms to train at while traveling through different cities
during the NBA season.

Joe Mazzulla uses MMA coaching practices in the NBA

Mazzulla believes MMA helps him build a fighter mentality, which is
required while taking on rival NBA teams in enemy territories.

“I think it just keeps you fresh, mentally and physically, so that
when I’m helping the team, I have a little bit of that fighter
mentality,†Mazzulla told Ariel Helwani. “It just helps grow a
little bit of an edge, and every little bit helps.â€

Mazzulla is also taking specific inputs from Nicksick about
communicating with athletes. He believes there are similarities
between MMA and basketball in terms of coaches communicating with
the players and is learning Nicksick's techniques of in-game
communication amidst all the chaos.

“The thing that's interesting in the in-fight communication,â€
Mazzulla added. “I think communication can be distracting. I ask
Eric a lot about what his communication is during the round…
There’s a timeout component in communication, but also in-game
communication… I think one of the hardest things in coaching is
to relay, in a simple way, what you see to the players so that they
can see it simply and execute. I think Eric does a great job of
that.â€

It’s pretty remarkable that an NBA head
coach is going out of his way to find MMA gyms to train at while on
the road during the season:

“I think it just keeps you fresh, mentally and physically, so that
when I’m helping the team, I have a little bit of that fighter
mentality. It… pic.twitter.com/QhDZmK1h8e

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
July 14, 2026

I’ve never heard of a head coach seeking out
an MMA coach to learn about their communication strategy between
rounds and during a fight. Really insightful.

“I think communication can be distracting. I ask @Eric_XCMMA a
lot about what his communication is during the round.… pic.twitter.com/zsfp2p0I1t

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
July 14, 2026

Dricus Du
Plessis has opened up about his lone loss in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, which came against Khamzat
Chimaev at
UFC 319.

The former UFC middleweight champion admitted that he spent his
training camp preparing for fast-paced scrambles, only for Chimaev
to adopt a far more conservative approach, which ultimately threw
him off.

Dricus du Plessis revisits defeat to Khamzat Chimaev: ‘There
was no scramble'

The South African lost to Chimaev in August of last year, giving up
nearly 22 minutes of ground control time to “Borz.†Moreover,
Chimaev followed the same pattern in every round: putting du
Plessis into the crucifix position and occasionally landing short
strikes from top position. Speaking to Submission Radio,
“Stillknocks” explained how his opponent's grappling approach took
him by surprise.

“It’s a style thing. The way he moved, it’s something that I
haven’t seen, haven’t felt, and it wasn’t a strength problem at
all,†du Plessis said. “It was just a way that he could get it to a
place where we were static. There was no scramble.â€

He also revealed that during his training camp, his team focused on
preparing for the relentless, fast-paced, and aggressive grappling
threats that have defined Chimaev's previous fights.

“That's what I was preparing for because if you look at all of his
other fights, that exciting, let's go, going for a choke, he didn't
go for one submission,†he added. “That was what we prepared for,
and he was just like, ‘Cool, let's just lie here and steal people's
money.’â€

Eager to return to winning ways and title contention, du Plessis
takes on former welterweight champion Kamaru
Usman at
UFC Oklahoma City on July 18.